Should all college students be required to take a course in public speaking? is a question of

Skills necessary for all majors

It’s that ultimate moment when all eyes are on you. You are the center of attention. Everyone has sat down to listen to every word you say, and to see everything you do. This is public speaking. No matter how shy, quiet or even loud and vocal, we all have been in this situation — whether it’s for a group presentation, at a best friend’s wedding or even making a logical point to a counterpart.

We The Threefold believe that public speaking should be a required course for all majors at JBU. We think we would all benefit from this skill as we will continue to use it for the rest of our lives.

Taking a public speaking course will give students the skills necessary to deliver a unique and well-crafted message.

We’ve all listened to our fellow classmates speak at the gathering, and it may look easy enough at times, but most people are unaware of the proper techniques behind delivering a powerful and effective speech.

Public speaking class will teach students the appropriate times to pause, how to avoid using distracting hand gestures and the proper placement for anecdotes to grab and hold the audience’s attention.

Currently, majors in education, communication, construction management and business have public speaking credit embedded in their degree requirements.

But what about a major like youth ministry which requires preaching sermons in front of students or even engineering students who give their senior presentations in front of a large audience?

Public speaking training will help students develop their skills in communication and enable them to present their ideas and beliefs to both large and small audiences.

According to USA Today’s article “5 reasons everyone should take a public speaking course,” public speaking will overlap into every aspect of your life, will help you become a better listener, will help voice your ideas and gain confidence.

At JBU, we strive on this idea of giving students a “holistic education” by equipping students with the skills to be successful in all aspects of their life. A public speaking class will produce well rounded students who can verbalize their thoughts, think logically and effectively persuade others—all tools that can be used in all aspects of their life.

Therefore, we The Threefold urge John Brown University to consider adding public speaking to their general education requirements.

Graphic by Becky Ramirez

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NOTES

 

Impromptu Speeches

1 Thesis: UW should abolish FIGs. This is an excellent student impromptu speech 2 Thesis: All professors and TAs should be required to take a public speaking class. This is an excellent student impromptu speech 3 Thesis: UW should require all students to take a P.E. course. This is an excellent student impromptu speech 4 Thesis: UW libraries should be open 24 hours a day. This is an excellent student impromptu speech  

Below are some more sample impromptu speeches.  Each speech attempts to demonstrate some problem.  In these speeches, both Dru (the lead TA at the time) and I performed three speeches with the same thesis statement to show how the same speech would look as an average, above average and excellent speech. 

A Thesis: The University of Washington should have a mandatory attendance policy for all students. This is an excellent impromptu speech B Thesis: The University of Washington should have a mandatory attendance policy for all students. This is a good impromptu speech C Thesis: Numerical grades in college should be abolished. This is an adequate impromptu speech D Thesis: Numerical grades in college should be abolished. This is an excellent impromptu speech E Thesis: Numerical grades in college should be abolished. This is a good impromptu speech F Thesis: The University of Washington should have a mandatory attendance policy for all students. This is an adequate impromptu speech G

Thesis: Physician assisted suicide should be legalized.

This is a good student impromptu speech.  Here what a grading form might look like for this speech (Sample Grading Form for this Speech)  

Peer Critique Speeches

5 Sample peer critique speech This is a good peer critique speech 6 Sample peer critique speech This is a good peer critique speech  

Persuasive Speeches

  7 ANWR This is an excellent persuasive speech 8 UW should host Tent City 3 This is an excellent persuasive speech 9 Pub in the HUB  This is an excellent persuasive speech 10 Divestment from Sudan  This is a good to excellent persuasive speech  

Additional Sample Persuasive Speeches

  Intelligent Design This is an excellent persuasive speech   Gun Control  This is a good to excellent persuasive speech

Sample teacher evaluation of this speech

  Drilling in ANWAR This is a good to excellent persuasive speech   Electoral College This is a good persuasive speech   Gun Control  This is an adequate persuasive speech

Sample teacher evaluation of this speech

  Stem Cell Research This is an adequate persuasive speech   Capital Punishment This is a below adequate persuasive speech  

Advocacy Speeches

11 Alskan Way Viaduct This is an excellent advocacy speech 12 Divestment from Sudan This is an excellent advocacy speech Tent City on campus This is an excellent advocacy speech Reinstate the tuition cap This is an excellent advocacy speech  

Additional Sample Advocacy Speeches

  Nuclear Energy This is an excellent advocacy speech   Same Sex Marriage This is an good advocacy speech   Media Conglomeration This is an good advocacy speech   Drug Policy This is a good advocacy speech    

Professional Speeches

    14 Robert Reich (Former U.S. Secretary of Labor) Pay attention to his energy and naturalness. 

What are the verbal and nonverbal traits that make his speech easy/difficult to follow?

More on Reich here

15 Greg Nickels (Seattle Mayor) Listen to how he quickly provides a thesis, main points, and evidence.

You should map out his comments and be able to talk about his reasoning.

16 Ralph Nader (Political Leader and Critic) This comes from a speech at Berkeley.  Just watch the introduction.  

What is clear/unclear about his introduction?

17 Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. (Former Chairman of IBM) This comes from a talk given by IBM's chairman to a conference. 

How is this introduction better/worse than the Nader introduction?

More on Gerstner here

18 Barack Obama (U.S. Senator from Illinois) This is one of Obama's weekly radio addresses.  You should mark down the stock

issues in his discussion of Darfur.

More on Obama here

19 Ronald Reagan (40th President of the United States) Again, listen to how Reagan crafts a sense for the astronauts and for the space program.

More information on the speech and a text copy here

20 Martin Luther King Jr. (Civil Rights Leader) One of, if not the, greatest American speeches of the 20th century.

For today, pay attention to the role of cognitive metaphor in the speech.

How does King frame civil rights for this audience?

More information on the speech and a text copy here

21 George W. Bush (43rd President of the United States)

--note: you need to click the link for video on the right side of the page

Compare Reagan's speech following the Challenger explosion, with Bush's following the

Columbia explosion.  What are the framing differences and the stylistic differences?

Why public speaking is important for college students?

Why is taking a public speaking class important?

What is a question of value asking?

When you give a speech on a question of fact you focus mainly?